Hi, my name is Alexandru, I’m 15 and am going into my sophomore year at Fayetteville-Manlius High-school. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for the first two years of my life. Even though I don't remember anything from my time there, Detroit has a special place in my heart and I will always be a supporter of there sports teams. Being a child of Romanian parents I am bilingual and can speak fluent Romanian. I have always loved science and Biology is the most interesting subject for me! I decided to enter into the synthetic biology program to learn more about the field!
My passion for science and biology truly began in the 7th grade when I joined the Science Olympiad. I had always liked science but this was the first time that I had been exposed to higher level science. My events were Crime Busters (forensics), Disease Detectives (Epidemiology), and Wheeled Vehicle. I would go on the win third in the national tournament in Forensics.
In the near future I hope the join the High-School science olympiad team and succeed there. In the further future I hope to major in biology and have a profession in the medical field whether it’s seeing patients, doing research, or performing autopsies.
I love to read, swim and sail. I’m really excited to start this program!
Design Project:
Purpose:
Every day, people all over the world suffer from diabetes. Diabetes is a condition which affects a patient’s ability to absorb glucose from the blood stream. There are two main types of diabetes, Type One diabetes, which stops insulin production in the pancreas, and Type Two diabetes which affects the cells’ insulin receptors, causing insulin to be less effective. A large amount of glucose in the blood stream is a major problem, causing headaches, fatigue, nerve damage, and damage to the eyes, blood vessels, and/or kidneys. This condition can escalate to the point of death. Most diabetes treatments involve testing the blood glucose levels of a patient and injecting insulin into the blood stream using a syringe, when blood glucose levels get too high. While these treatments are effective, they are inconvenient, require constant attention, and are expensive. Creating new, more efficient, and more convenient treatments is important for making the patients’ lives easier, and cutting down on potentially fatal errors, such as overdoses or improper testing of blood glucose levels. My design is a patch, similar to a nicotine patch, that is placed on the skin. This patch will house a genetically modified version of the bacterium, Staphylococcus Epidermidis, which is commonly found on the skin, that has the genes for producing insulin and a light green pigment incorporated into its genome. The bacteria will have glucose receptors, making it sensitive to the patients’ sweat glucose levels, which are comparable to their blood glucose levels. The bacteria will release insulin accordingly. The creation of such a patch would introduce a smart, easy, and potentially permanent treatment to the public, making the lives of many diabetics much easier.
Competing Technologies:
Currently, there are several options for insulin treatment, including insulin injections, special diabetic diets, and exercise. These competing methods of treatment are effective in curbing the consequence of Type One and Type Two diabetes, but they often require great diligence and self-awareness, causing the patients and their families to put a great amount of effort into managing their condition.
The Design:
Cell1.jpg
Patch design.jpg
This design is a patch made of an agar-like substance with micro-needles that are 0.25mm long. The micro-needles serve as a Trojan horse, breaking through the epidermis and allowing the bacteria to secrete insulin into the bloodstream. The micro-needles house insulin producing bacteria, while the exterior portion serves as a storage unit for lure broth which helps lengthen the lifespan of the bacteria. The bacterium in the micro-needles, Staphylococcus Epidermidis, is genetically modified using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology with the INS gene to produce insulin and four pigment producing genes, namely vioA, vioB, vioD, and vioE, to produce a green pigment. The cell will have receptors sensitive to glucose, measured from the patient’s sweat. When the glucose sweat levels reach approximately 180 mg/dl the glucose receptors will initiate a biochemical cascade, sending secondary messengers to promoters, triggering the INS and the pigment producing genes, creating mRNA for insulin and green pigment protein. The mRNA then travels to the ribosome where it is translated and where insulin and the green pigment are synthesized. the insulin is then secreted into the blood stream and the bacteria turn green, letting the patient know that their glucose levels are high.
Expected Results:
In an ideal situation, the cells will make insulin and will turn green in the presence of glucose. The insulin will be absorbed into the bloodstream lowering glucose levels, stopping the production of insulin, and returning the bacteria to their natural color.
Truth Table:
Glucose Present
Insulin is generated
Green pigment is generated
1
1
1
0
0
0
These ideal results will do away with painful diabetes treatments and the constant worry of managing the disease by providing automatic insulin release and a comfortable patch. They will also eliminate the need to test glucose levels by providing an automatic test via the green pigment.
Advantages:
The advantage of the smart bacterial insulin patch is that it will release insulin automatically whenever the patient needs it. The smart insulin patch will also get rid of the need to test blood glucose levels by automatically turning green when there is too much glucose. Most importantly, the insulin patch could be a permanent treatment for diabetes that does not need to be removed, saving people thousands of dollars. This would be especially beneficial for lower income families that cannot afford insulin. The smart bacterial insulin patch should be funded because it has the potential to help many people with diabetes lead better lives. There is also potential for a large market involving alternative diabetes treatments. The smart insulin patch would be a leading option for unconventional treatments.
Disadvantages:
There are a few disadvantages of the smart insulin patch. One disadvantage is that bacteria could potentially be nonviable, removing the permanence aspect of the patch, causing people to need to buy multiple patches. There is also a small chance that the bacteria in the patch could become pathogenic and infect the patient’s body, though this is unlikely due to this bacteria being generally non-infectious. Workers developing this patch would be required to wear general lab safety equipment such as gloves, lab coats, long sleeves, goggles, and facial masks, to prevent the bacteria from entering the developers’ bodies. This project does not have any known environmental problems. The smart insulin patch is safe and does not pose a major threat to the researchers, the patient, the general public, or the environment.
Testing:
The smart insulin patch can be tested, first by seeing if the bacteria produce green pigment, proving that the genes have been transcribed. Later the patch can be put through clinical trials, first with animals then with humans. These tests would help improve the system by highlighting any shortcomings and/or design flaws before it is released to the general public.
Conclusion:
The smart insulin patch should be funded because it can help many diabetics and has several advantages over conventional treatment options.
Hi, my name is Alexandru, I’m 15 and am going into my sophomore year at Fayetteville-Manlius High-school. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and lived there for the first two years of my life. Even though I don't remember anything from my time there, Detroit has a special place in my heart and I will always be a supporter of there sports teams. Being a child of Romanian parents I am bilingual and can speak fluent Romanian. I have always loved science and Biology is the most interesting subject for me! I decided to enter into the synthetic biology program to learn more about the field!
My passion for science and biology truly began in the 7th grade when I joined the Science Olympiad. I had always liked science but this was the first time that I had been exposed to higher level science. My events were Crime Busters (forensics), Disease Detectives (Epidemiology), and Wheeled Vehicle. I would go on the win third in the national tournament in Forensics.
In the near future I hope the join the High-School science olympiad team and succeed there. In the further future I hope to major in biology and have a profession in the medical field whether it’s seeing patients, doing research, or performing autopsies.
I love to read, swim and sail. I’m really excited to start this program!
Design Project:
Purpose:
Every day, people all over the world suffer from diabetes. Diabetes is a condition which affects a patient’s ability to absorb glucose from the blood stream. There are two main types of diabetes, Type One diabetes, which stops insulin production in the pancreas, and Type Two diabetes which affects the cells’ insulin receptors, causing insulin to be less effective. A large amount of glucose in the blood stream is a major problem, causing headaches, fatigue, nerve damage, and damage to the eyes, blood vessels, and/or kidneys. This condition can escalate to the point of death. Most diabetes treatments involve testing the blood glucose levels of a patient and injecting insulin into the blood stream using a syringe, when blood glucose levels get too high. While these treatments are effective, they are inconvenient, require constant attention, and are expensive. Creating new, more efficient, and more convenient treatments is important for making the patients’ lives easier, and cutting down on potentially fatal errors, such as overdoses or improper testing of blood glucose levels. My design is a patch, similar to a nicotine patch, that is placed on the skin. This patch will house a genetically modified version of the bacterium, Staphylococcus Epidermidis, which is commonly found on the skin, that has the genes for producing insulin and a light green pigment incorporated into its genome. The bacteria will have glucose receptors, making it sensitive to the patients’ sweat glucose levels, which are comparable to their blood glucose levels. The bacteria will release insulin accordingly. The creation of such a patch would introduce a smart, easy, and potentially permanent treatment to the public, making the lives of many diabetics much easier.
Competing Technologies:
Currently, there are several options for insulin treatment, including insulin injections, special diabetic diets, and exercise. These competing methods of treatment are effective in curbing the consequence of Type One and Type Two diabetes, but they often require great diligence and self-awareness, causing the patients and their families to put a great amount of effort into managing their condition.
The Design:
This design is a patch made of an agar-like substance with micro-needles that are 0.25mm long. The micro-needles serve as a Trojan horse, breaking through the epidermis and allowing the bacteria to secrete insulin into the bloodstream. The micro-needles house insulin producing bacteria, while the exterior portion serves as a storage unit for lure broth which helps lengthen the lifespan of the bacteria. The bacterium in the micro-needles, Staphylococcus Epidermidis, is genetically modified using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology with the INS gene to produce insulin and four pigment producing genes, namely vioA, vioB, vioD, and vioE, to produce a green pigment. The cell will have receptors sensitive to glucose, measured from the patient’s sweat. When the glucose sweat levels reach approximately 180 mg/dl the glucose receptors will initiate a biochemical cascade, sending secondary messengers to promoters, triggering the INS and the pigment producing genes, creating mRNA for insulin and green pigment protein. The mRNA then travels to the ribosome where it is translated and where insulin and the green pigment are synthesized. the insulin is then secreted into the blood stream and the bacteria turn green, letting the patient know that their glucose levels are high.
Expected Results:
In an ideal situation, the cells will make insulin and will turn green in the presence of glucose. The insulin will be absorbed into the bloodstream lowering glucose levels, stopping the production of insulin, and returning the bacteria to their natural color.
Truth Table:
These ideal results will do away with painful diabetes treatments and the constant worry of managing the disease by providing automatic insulin release and a comfortable patch. They will also eliminate the need to test glucose levels by providing an automatic test via the green pigment.
Advantages:
The advantage of the smart bacterial insulin patch is that it will release insulin automatically whenever the patient needs it. The smart insulin patch will also get rid of the need to test blood glucose levels by automatically turning green when there is too much glucose. Most importantly, the insulin patch could be a permanent treatment for diabetes that does not need to be removed, saving people thousands of dollars. This would be especially beneficial for lower income families that cannot afford insulin. The smart bacterial insulin patch should be funded because it has the potential to help many people with diabetes lead better lives. There is also potential for a large market involving alternative diabetes treatments. The smart insulin patch would be a leading option for unconventional treatments.
Disadvantages:
There are a few disadvantages of the smart insulin patch. One disadvantage is that bacteria could potentially be nonviable, removing the permanence aspect of the patch, causing people to need to buy multiple patches. There is also a small chance that the bacteria in the patch could become pathogenic and infect the patient’s body, though this is unlikely due to this bacteria being generally non-infectious. Workers developing this patch would be required to wear general lab safety equipment such as gloves, lab coats, long sleeves, goggles, and facial masks, to prevent the bacteria from entering the developers’ bodies. This project does not have any known environmental problems. The smart insulin patch is safe and does not pose a major threat to the researchers, the patient, the general public, or the environment.
Testing:
The smart insulin patch can be tested, first by seeing if the bacteria produce green pigment, proving that the genes have been transcribed. Later the patch can be put through clinical trials, first with animals then with humans. These tests would help improve the system by highlighting any shortcomings and/or design flaws before it is released to the general public.
Conclusion:
The smart insulin patch should be funded because it can help many diabetics and has several advantages over conventional treatment options.
Sources:
http://mdd.ucd.ie/group-members-ellen-cahill-and-dr-eoin-ocearbhaill-publish-review-paper-titled-toward-biofunctional-microneedles-for-stimulus-responsive-drug-delivery/
http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/managing-diabetes/blood-glucose-management/high-blood-glucose/
http://dermarollerinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pain-blood.jpg
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27401408
http://mdd.ucd.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Microneedle-Patch.jpg
http://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_treatment/article.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/diabetes-hyperglycemia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staphylococcus_epidermidis
http://parts.igem.org/wiki/index.php/Part:BBa_K274004
http://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/specialreports/47603
https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/medical-resources/health-conditions/endocrine-system/diabetes-diet-and-oral-medication
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/861746
http://www.transplant.surgery.ucsf.edu/conditions--procedures/type-1-diabetes.aspx